Gov’t poised to hit poverty reduction goals

The government is confident that it will achieve its latest poverty reduction goals as data indicate that it is well on its way to hitting targets for the year, the National Economic Development Authority (Neda) said.

In a statement over the weekend, Neda officials said bright prospects are seen for the the financial sector, as well as the Industry and Services (I&S) sectors.

Some indicators in the I&S sectors that were validated to have high probability of meeting the 2014 targets are the improvement of gross value-added in services, the Philippine Innovation index, Doing Business global ranking, and labor productivity.

“The objectives of this exercise are to take a look at where we are in relation to the targets of the updated PDP, to pinpoint the gaps, and see what can be done going forward in order to meet the objectives of the plan,” Neda Deputy Director General Emmanuel F. Esguerra said.

This is based on the initial results of an ongoing assessment and validation conducted by the planning committee on economic development, which met last Sept. 3 at the Development Academy of the Philippines in Pasig City.

Esguerra heads the committee.

Similarly, the committee has a positive outlook on the PDP objective of increasing access to financing to sustain and broaden growth.

Also, all of the critical indicators in the financial sector exhibit a high probability of achievement by 2016.

These include growth of the financial system’s total assets, improvement of the national savings rate, increase in the number of deposit accounts for every 1,000 people, improvement in the delivery of microfinance services, and increase in the number of access points per 10,000 population.

No other details were disclosed.

These targets are included in the mid-term update of the administration’s Philippine Development Plan (PDP), a comprehensive agenda that cuts across every sector of the economy. Its main goal is the reduction of poverty and the improvement of lives of Filipinos.